AS Val

The 9x39mm cartridge was purpose-built by TsNIITochMash by necking up a 7.62x39mm AK case to accept a heavy 16-gram bullet that stays subsonic (~295 m/s) yet still punches through Level III body armor at close range - a ballistic problem most Western designers never tried to solve because suppressing a supersonic rifle cartridge is considered impossible. Because the suppressor is a permanent, non-removable part of the barrel assembly, the AS Val is effectively unexportable to the US civilian market and has achieved near-mythic status among firearm enthusiasts, appearing obsessively in video games like STALKER, Escape from Tarkov, and the Call of Duty series as the go-to 'silent assassin' rifle.

Shares roughly 70% parts commonality with the VSS Vintorez sniper rifle and is fed from the same 10- or 20-round curved steel magazines (standard issue is the 20-round). The integral suppressor cannot be legally removed from the weapon and contains both expansion chambers and internal baffles; the barrel itself is ported to bleed gas into the suppressor. Sound signature at the muzzle is approximately 130 dB, comparable to a suppressed .22 rimfire. The SP-6 armor-piercing round will defeat 8mm of steel plate or a standard CRISAT / Level III vest at 100 m, and remain lethal to armored targets out to roughly 300-400 m. The skeletal metal side-folding stock reduces overall length to about 615 mm for concealed carry or vehicle stowage. Mounts Russian side-rail PSO-series and 1P29 optics. Because of the fixed integral suppressor (classified under US law as a Title II silencer permanently attached to a short-barreled rifle), the AS Val has never been imported for the US civilian market.